kansas59

Although I added this to the previous thread I just wanted to express my appreciation and thanks. The message on the Unable to Purchase Tix threads reads as follows: Eureka! My friend and I went onto the italian version of trenitali.com and between our limited italian and everyone's suggestions here, we were able to purchase our tix for Rome-Venice & Venice-Rome in February. Even managed to get the 29 euro rate for 1st class (why not?) and coordinated travel for 3 people in total. Thanks again to everyone for their persistence and advice - we're feeling quite proud of ourselves right now and it's all due to the helpful contributions available here. Happy trails...

PalQ

Some edification please - how do you get the actual ticket - is it a code you give the ESItalia conductor or do you go to an ATM machine - are you totally confident in this? Or are they sending you the tickets. Are the refundable or changeable? Great deal in any case. Ciao ciao.

GAC

This is how the Trenitalia ticketless option works:

You pay for the tickets by credit card. You are sent a confirmatory e-message containing information about your reservation (reservation code, train number, date, departure and arrival points, class of service, railcar number and seat number).

You bring the e-mail with you on the train (make sure you find the correct railcar and seat, understanding that identical seat numbers are found on different railcars), and are given a paper ticket by the agent who identifies you by the reservations code.

Ticketless reservations open 60 days prior to desired travel date (not sooner) and are available for most if not all ES, ICplus and IC trains (not for D, IR or R trains, which are non-reservable).

Most of these promotional fares are NONREFUNDABLE. However, with the exception of the "LOW COST" Eurostar for 9 Euros, they are exchangeable for full-fare tickets, and in some cases the reservation travel date can be modified. You need to review the rules for each type of fare, as the rules do change (and unfortunely they're only in Italian on the Trenitalia website). While I've summarized the rules on this website, my summary is NOT official and is usually just a summary, and in any event the rules do change from time to time (as they recently changed for the Sabato di Trenitalia.com fare).

So don't rely completely on my summary of the rules (which I do try to state accurately), particularly for postings which are older than a couple of weeks ago, and which may not have been updated!

barbmike

GAC, do your instructions work on the English version? Thanks, Mike

GAC

My instructions work on the English language www.trenitalia.com website up until the page requesting user-id and password (I did not go beyond this step).

HOWEVER, there is a software programming error on the promotions page. At the bottom, instead of saying
"Eurostar a 29 Euros" and "Eurostar a 39 Euros", it says:

"Offerta commerciale non valida" in both places.

This trips up many users. Nevertheless, if you proceed and click on the "Offerta commerciale on valida" on the LEFT hand side, you'll then get to the seat selection page for the "Eurostar a 29 Euro".

All very confusing ..... which I why I prefer to use the Italian-language website.

GAC

I note that the rules for Ticketless travel (or electronic tickets) are in both Italian and in English, as are the rules relating to the "Notti di Trenitalia" (which is certainly the least popular of the promotional rates).

By contrast, the rules for "Sabato di Trenitalia.com" (which was recently updated) and for the brand-new "Eurostar a 29/39 Euro," are currently only in Italian (but will hopefully be translated into English in the future).

kansas59

PalQ - I went ticketless (think that's the only option when you book on-line) but it appears that GAC answers all your questions beautifully.

GAC - Thanks for your patience and tutoring re: italian train travel and promotional fares. This is exactly why I check in here so frequently. I love being able to add a new resource to my ever growing list.

massagediva

GAC- I could kiss you!My sister and I have been scratching our heads over this for awhile now. Mille grazie. We are travelling from Roma to Venezia and are saving 50+ dollars for our tickets!!!!